The legacy of Tamil thatha

The classicism of Tamil literature and the masterpieces that make it classical bring to mind great palaces, poets endowed with immense talent, and an immeasurable appreciation of what the quills sang. To think all these are preserved in one 68-year old library, with inadequate funds, in Thiruvanmiyur can be a bit of a letdown.

However, the U. V. Swaminatha Iyer Research Library is one of its kinds in South Asia, both in terms of its history, its contents and its potential.

Dr. Swaminatha Iyer lived in a time that possessed an incomplete awareness, let alone knowledge, of Tamil literature. Once, after a chance encounter with an associate, he received a frail document to decipher, a document he quickly realized with a shock was the Jeevaka Chintamani, one of the five great epics, the Aymperum Kaappiangal.

His discovery prompted him to search for other lost epics of Tamil literature. Soon, he was going from door to door in hundreds of towns and villages in and around Tamil Nadu, begging for the Tamil people to give up any old manuscripts they might have had to be preserved. The alternative then, unamusingly, was for their use in cooking fires.

Kalyanasundaram Iyer, his son, offered the entire treasure trove after the passing of his father Rukmini Devi in 1942.

On the advice of her husband, Dr. George Arundale, she accepted the gift and initially stored the collection in the Theosophical Society's library. With grants from the central and state governments, a building was constructed in Thiruvanmiyur to house the collection in 1967.

Formally established in 1943, one year after the death of Dr. Iyer, the research library bears fitting tribute to a man of great intellect and even greater perseverance. This was demonstrated when he collected all five of the epics, the others being Silappathikaram, Thirukkural, Kundalakesi and Valayapathi, apart from over 21,000 books and 3,100 palm leaf manuscripts.

In accordance with the facilities at the library’s disposal, the books are categorized into three: transcribed and published, transcribed and unpublished, and non-transcribed. The latter already number on the greater side of 400. With dwindling interest in the services of this remarkable facility, their preservation is beginning to pose a tremendous problem – both to the administration as well as to the language itself.

V. Jagannathan, an independent Tamil scholar, has used the library and admires it fervently – both for what it is and what it could be. Many a time making use of the transcribed works to aid in his translations of the Silappathikaram and the Thirukkural, he says, “These are works that cannot be found anywhere in the world. They are preserved in their original forms here. It is really depressing to see them so uncared for.”

He explains that the transcription and lamination processes were begun later than they should have, in 2006. Even now, Dr. Jagannathan observes, the influx of funds remains a concern. Enough has been provided by the government and the Kalakshetra foundation for micro-filming and fumigation of the texts. “However, with the internet, the library has the fantastic opportunity to make these texts quickly available for free and in a form accessible to many youngsters.”

What does the future look like, then? The title of Mahopadhyaya was conferred on Dr. Iyer in 1906, meaning “the greatest of the great teachers”, and how have we honoured his lessons?

M. V. Pasupathy, honorary curator of the library, has emphasized the need for virtual libraries, abetted by awareness programs on history and heritage that draw in more people to sustain its preservation. The hope, evidently, lies with the hundreds of scholars and their use of the library every year. It is from the appreciation of their efforts that we can embark once more upon a journey that will revive the splendour of Tamil classical literature as well as our beloved Tamil thatha.

- Mukundh Vasudevan

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The Hindu

Who's Who in Adyar: Kalki Krishnamurthy

The 9th of September 2011 marked the 112th birth anniversary of ‘Kalki’ R. Krishnamurthy, a freedom fighter, social crusader, novelist, short story writer, journalist, humorist, satirist, travel writer, script-writer, poet, critic and connoisseur of the arts. His writings include over 120 short stories, 10 novelettes, five novels, three historical romances, editorial and political writings and hundreds of film and music reviews. He is best known for his historical romances, which are immensely popular and are considered classics in Tamil literature.

R.Krishnamurthy was born on September 9, 1899 at Puttamangalam in a poor Brahmin family. After completing his primary education in the village, Krishnamurthy joined the National High School at Tiruchi. Mahatma Gandhi's speech at a public meeting in Tiruchi, as part of the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921, inspired Krishnamurthy. He was one among the thousands of students who gave up their studies to participate in the movement. He left school and joined the Indian National Congress when his Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) examination was just three months away.

In 1922, he was imprisoned for a year for participating in the independence struggle. While in prison he met veteran Congress leader C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji) and T. Sadasivam. In 1923 he joined as a sub-editor in Navasakthi, a Tamil periodical edited by Tamil scholar and freedom fighter V. Kalyanasundaram, popularly known as "ThiruViKa". He left Navasakthi in 1928, joined Rajaji at the Gandhi Ashram in Tiruchengode in Salem district and helped him edit Vimochanam, a Tamil journal devoted to propagating prohibition. In 1931, he was again imprisoned for six months. 

In 1929, Krishnamurthy joined Ananda Vikatan, a weekly edited and published by S.S. Vasan, as its de facto editor. He wrote under the pen names of "Kalki", "Ra. Ki", "Tamil Theni", "Karnatakam" and so on. Vikatan published many of his short stories and novels (as serials). In 1941 he left Ananda Vikatan and rejoined the freedom struggle and was incarcerated for three months. On his release he and Sadasivam started Kalki. He was its editor until his death on December 5, 1954. 

His historical novels, Parthiban Kanavu (Parthiban's Dream), Sivakamiyin Sapatham (Sivakami's Vow) and Ponniyin Selvan (Ponni's Son) were first serialised in Kalki, and later published as books between 1943 and 1951. These novels were re-published eight times between 1984 and 1999. His Tamil translation of Gandhi's autobiography, My Experiments with Truth, was published as Satya Sothanai. Kalki considered Alai Osai, which won him the Sahitya Akademi award posthumously in 1956, as his best. The novel was serialised in Kalki in 1948-49 and published as a book in 1963. His other social novels include Thyaga Bhoomi (The land of sacrifice) and Kalvanin Kadali (Bandit's sweetheart), both of which have been filmed. Thyaga Bhoomi, serialised in Ananda Vikatan, dealt with women's rights and untouchability. It was made into a film by veteran director, K. Subrahmanyam. But the film was banned, after a successful run for six weeks, by the colonial Government on the grounds that it indirectly aroused the people to fight for freedom. S. Krishnaswamy, film historian and son of Subrahmanyam, made a tele-serial of the story in Hindi. Parthiban Kanavu, Kalvanin Kadali and Poiman Karadu were also filmed. Kalki also made a significant contribution to the cause of Tamil music by leading a movement to convince Carnatic musicians to include more Tamil songs in their concerts.

Kalki, however, did not remain free from criticism and controversies. He was accused of being a propagandist and a supporter of royalty. He was embroiled in controversy when he did not subscribe to an observation by a respectable writer that Subramanya Bharati was a "mahakavi". The writers of his time also accused Kalki of plagiarism. Later, Kalki admitted that the themes of some six or seven were adaptations.

Notwithstanding the accusations, Kalki has gone down in history as a renaissance man whose main concern was to arouse people's consciousness against colonial rule, to remind the people of their cultural heritage, and to instill pride in the greatness of Tamil language, literature, art, and culture.

On 9 September 1999, a postage stamp in honour of Kalki was released as part of his birth centenary celebrations. Semmalar, the monthly organ of the Tamil Nadu Progressive Writers Association, also brought out a special number to commemorate Kalki's centenary. The celebrations were also marked by the publication of a number of new books, which included Kalki: Selected Stories by Penguin Books and Kalki Kalanjiyam by Vanathi Pathippagam. The book was an English translation of 12 selected short stories of Kalki by his grand-daughter Gowri Ramnarayan. On 6 December 2007 playwright ‘Crazy’ Mohan released two books, “Paalatril Oru Pagarkanavu” and “Kalki Valartha Kalaigal,” which included a collection of music and drama criticism by ‘Kalki’ R. Krishnamurthy.

On 9 September 1996, the Kalki Krishnamurth Memorial Trust Award was instituted by the Krishnamurthy Memorial Trust managed by Kalki Krishnamurthy’s son, K.Rajendran. Vijay Siva, one of the foremost vocalists in classical Carnatic Music, was the first recipient of the award. In 2000, flute artist, Sikkil Mala Chandrashekhar was honoured with the Kalki Centenary Award. In 2005, Carnatic vocalist, Sikkil Gurucahran became the youngest to receive the award.

In 2000 the Kalki Sadasivam Memorial Trust Award was instituted to recognize excellence in advertising in Tamil with equal emphasis on social purpose and creativity. The Trust also gives scholarships to top students of advertising, public relations and mass communication. This year the16th Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Award was presented to two talented young artists, violinist Nagai Sriram and Carnatic vocalist Saketharaman. The Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Trust also increased the total quantum of scholarships to be distributed to brilliant students from economically poor background to 2.85 lakhs this year.

Although, December 5th this year will mark 57 years since Kalki was laid to rest, he will continue to live through his indelible works. He will be remembered forever for his efforts in propagating Khadi, promoting the Swadeshi movement, encouraging the arts and crafts of Tamil Nadu, abolishing untouchability and championing women’s education.

- Vishal Matthew

The Adyar Library - Where history lives on

I was a bit disappointed when I first saw the Adyar library and Research centre . The building looked nothing like what I had imagined it to be, which was an old colonial style building, French windows and all. The present building, constructed and opened in 1968 is not half as old as the Madras literary society building or the Connemara public library, but the 2,00,000 lakh books and the 20,000 meticulously conserved palm leaf manuscripts speaks of the sheer wealth this library possesses.

The library was founded by the Colonel Olcott in 1886 as his own private book collection with just 200 books he collected during his many travels. It was first, situated in the headquarters building of the theosophical society. To suit growing needs it was shifted to a larger, more spacious building. The books here include rare indological publications among works on different religions, philosophies and cultures in several languages.

The Adyar Library and Research Centre (A.D.R.C) is a closed library where the members need to choose the book they desire to borrow form a cataloug and then a library assistant would bring the book from the three storey air conditioned storage rooms. “This practice is done to conserve and maintain these rare books which may get infected leading to degeneration due to excessive contact” said C.A.Shinde, the librarian here, who has been working here for the society for 6 years.

Research scholars from all over the world come to this library to gain access to some of the works in this library. The priceless possessions of the library include Chinese Triptakas, Tibetan Tanjur and Kanjur and various other journals form all over the world. The library also has a separate display room to showcase some of the rare books in its possession which is open to visitors. Books given to Annie Besant by H.G wells and letters written by Rabindranath Tagore too have been displayed here.

Dr. K.Kunjunni Raja , the senior Sanskrit scholar and author of The Indian theories of meaning , was closely associated with the A.D.R.C. He was an honorary director of the library of the library from 1980 after he retired from the Sanskrit department of the Madras University.

“Photocopies and micro copies of the rare books and also of the palm leaf manuscripts are allowed with prior permission and a nominal charge. Some of these books here, especially the Indian publications are one of a kind, this is done so that these publications can be recreated for other works”, Jayashree, a library employee said. “The manuscripts and other books of great value and rarity may be consulted only in the presence of one of the library assistants” she added.

The library is open only to registered users and a member must first become a reader member for a year and only then can he or she be allowed to borrow. The reader member can access the reading rooms which also contains subscriptions over 100 magazines. It is open on all days except Mondays from 9 a.m to 4 p.m.

- Vishal Menon